Plant-based food products from American company Impossible Foods have arrived in the UK for the first time - and it said it expected its cult 'bleeding' meat-free burger to be on supermarket shelves within a year.
The Californian firm is awaiting regulatory approval for its signature product. Its other meat-free items - chicken nuggets and sausage patties - are now available at Hungry Horse pubs and restaurants including Patty & Bun and MEATliquor.
It is understood the group has not yet obtained permission to sell its main product in the UK or Europe. Peter McGuinness, Impossible’s new chief executive, told The Times : "Things don’t move quickly when it comes to government agencies. I don’t want to put a date out there, but in the next year, I would say."
Impossible uses an ingredient produced from genetically engineered yeast to make the burgers appear more like meat. The company was founded in 2011 by Patrick Brown, a biochemistry professor at Stanford University.
It launched its meat-free burger in USA in 2016, later branching out into pork and sausage substitutes. According to reports, food regulators in America have approved the use of genetically engineered soy leghemoglobin as a colour additive in Impossible’s burgers. The delay is believed to be because British and European regulators are examining similar applications.
Mr McGuinness also spoke of hopes for local manufacturing but for now stock will be shipped across the Atlantic from America.
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